Winch Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Winch Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the period. Winch Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GGM Financials LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

AbbVie Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $171.32 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.63. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $302.75 billion, a PE ratio of 59.49, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.